


Duckweek and Frogspawn

by AtPK



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Reibert - Freeform, Reibert Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 04:40:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4550826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtPK/pseuds/AtPK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reibert Week Drabble: Childhood (Day 1)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duckweek and Frogspawn

“Do you remember that time,” Bertl murmured into Reiner’s hair, his voice light and wistful with memory. “I think it was Mrs Hale, or was it Miss Cross? They found that ugly little dog and brought it back to the town, and everyone just thought it was an ugly little dog, apart from, what was her name again? hmmm, Heide. She thought it was amazing and followed it around everywhere. Do you remember?” he stroked Reiner’s arm, steady, smooth strokes from his shoulder to his elbow, soothing. “And then one day it decided to try and catch the ducks in the pond, and it jumped in and then started scrabbling around and yelping, and Heide was hysterical and then you were just, don’t worry Heide, I’ll save your dog, and you just jumped straight in.” Reiner’s heartbeat was slowing down, calming back to a normal pace. “You ended up with duckweed in your hair and frogspawn down your trousers.” Bertl laughed at the memory. “And your mum was so angry because she’d just made you those trousers and you had to wash them in the sink out the back of your house. Heide was so happy though, and you were so proud of yourself, with your duckweed hair.”

He’d found Reiner out on the training field, going at it with the punchbag. He’d watching him for a while, the force and aggression channeled into every hit, again and again and again until his knuckles had split, and even then he hadn’t stopped. Bertl had tried to make him stop, tried to pull him away, but Reiner wasn’t having any of it.

“We shouldn’t be here,” he’d growled. “We don’t belong here.”

They were dangerous words.

“It’s all a lie.”

Bertl had feared this was coming, he’d seen the signs for a few days.

“We need to be here.” he’d countered. “We are soldiers.”

“No!” Reiner’d yelled.

“Yes!” Bertl’d yelled back.

It wasn’t often that Bertl shouted, he preferred less aggressive ways of dealing with things, ways that preferably didn’t involve confrontations. It’d made Reiner pause, and Bertl had ducked in between him and the punchbag. When Reiner had tried to move him, they’d tussled and wrestled and somehow Bertl had managed to get his arms around Reiner and they’d crumpled to the cold dirt ground of the training field, Bertl holding Reiner against him, not letting him get free despite his struggles.

“We shouldn’t be here.” Reiner had said again.

“We need to follow orders.”

He hadn’t been sure if bringing up their childhood would be a good idea or if it’d just make everything worse, but considering how Reiner was now relaxed back against him, his head tucked safely beneath Bertl’s chin, it seemed to have been the right call.

“And you did the same thing with Mr Johnson’s cat, do you remember that?”

Reiner nodded. It was a good sign that he was coming back.

“You went up the tree to save it, and then got scared of the height and I had to go up to help you, and then I got scared of the height, and we had to wait up there for hours before Annie came to get us down.”

Reiner rested his hands on Bertl’s bent knees, which he was currently nestled between.

“What about that time you tried to help with the milking and didn’t realise how deep the vat was and you fell in and I had to fish you out?”

Bertl laughed softly, now kissing Reiner’s soft curls. “I’d forgotten about that. They’d had to throw the lot out and the whole town had been furious with me.”

“I protected you.” Reiner said.

“You’ve always looked after me, Reiner.”

“I always will.”

“I know.”


End file.
